The Red Wings aren’t as concerned about who they are playing as they are with how they are playing.

Nicely phrased. Good grammar. Active voice.

And absolute bullshit.

Krupa went all redolent on us this morning. Breaking down the reasons we should stress: Helm’s absence, disgusting power play, a team that isn’t used to playing together. He even pulled this one out of his pharmacist’s hat.

The loser could fall to the sixth seed and gets the third conference seed, the champion of the relatively underwhelming Pacific Division—Phoenix, Los Angeles or San Jose.

Home or away, I don’t want Nashville. Not in the first round. A second round matchup? Not too gross because if the Wings get there it will mean they’ve found their game. And when they find it, they’re the favorites. But it’s not there yet. The Wings, as Redolence said, are a work in progress. It’s a work that will work itself out through a Round 1 matchup, not over four days of practice.

Wings lose today and they’ve got Phoenix, LA or San Jose. All of them are beatable even with a Detroit team still finding their way. Nashville is not beatable in the first round. And that’s a fact. Not by us. Not by this team right now.

This pretty much caps off the weirdest season any of us can remember. A regular season that closes with a game I hope we lose so that we can actually get a lower seed that starts on the road. That’s just stupid but it’s the reality we fester in today.

So, umm, go Wings. Play well, men. But not too well.

Live Blog this wack job of a season finale, bitches. And if agreeing with me betrays the way you’ve been raised here in The Hasek? I get it. You don’t have to say it. I won’t make you. But in the dark places, thinking it is ok because losing to that team today paves the way to 12. Winning makes our lives a lot tougher over the next three weeks.

Comments

No one is a winner. Either you face Nashville or you do a lot of traveling in the first round. Pick your poison.

Posted by
Philip
on 04/07/12 at 11:18 AM ET

a Joni Mitchell retrospective.

hahahaha I’ve got a brand new pair of roller skates.

Posted by
RWBill
from swimming in the ocean with narwhals. on 04/07/12 at 11:25 AM ET

I will pick my poison: Nasville over the possible sharks any day….they have our number and they want to play us…

Posted by
Nat
from MTL on 04/07/12 at 11:32 AM ET

The only playoff scenario I like is…
Parade down Woodward.
Posted by pgoody on 04/07/12 at 10:15 AM ET

And we live blog that too.

Posted by
RWBill
from swimming in the ocean with narwhals. on 04/07/12 at 11:32 AM ET

a Joni Mitchell retrospective.

hahahaha I’ve got a brand new pair of roller skates.

Posted by RWBill from the Land of 12 in 12. on 04/07/12 at 10:25 AM ET

That wasn’t Joni.

Posted by
MsRedWinger
from GlennieAbbyLand, now in Flori-Duh on 04/07/12 at 11:37 AM ET

Chief, like all Red Wings fans, is confused and bewildered by being on the last day of the season where we have not long since wrapped up first place, so we don’t know what to think about today’s game. In fact I just realized I care little about the game in that it is meaningless, being this close to the real season that begins Wednesday.

Posted by
RWBill
from swimming in the ocean with narwhals. on 04/07/12 at 11:37 AM ET

a Joni Mitchell retrospective.

hahahaha I’ve got a brand new pair of roller skates.

Posted by RWBill from the Land of 12 in 12. on 04/07/12 at 10:25 AM ET

That wasn’t Joni.

Posted by MsRedWinger from Michigan, now in Flori-duh on 04/07/12 at 10:37 AM ET

After I typed that I wondered that myself.

Posted by
RWBill
from swimming in the ocean with narwhals. on 04/07/12 at 11:38 AM ET

Chief, I can never openly admit to wanting my team to lose, but “in the dark places,” like you said… well. Still, I’m always reminded of that worn-out cliche: Be careful what you wish for.

So… LET’S GO RED WINGS !!!!! And let the rest be as it will be.

Posted by
MsRedWinger
from GlennieAbbyLand, now in Flori-Duh on 04/07/12 at 11:39 AM ET

I hope we lose today. I hope we lose healthy and I hope we lose competitively

Chi hope they lose today too, or win in OT or SO. We might be in for a real treat of a game, a glaring testament to a new NHL, on national TV no less, with usual bunch of NBC clowns blathering nonsense as the damning proof they have no other employment options.

Shall I say, let’s go Dives? No, I cannot bring myself to do this!

Posted by
Alex
on 04/07/12 at 12:45 PM ET

Too much to do today. No LB for me. I’ll check back later to see how it went. Once again, no expectations.

It is so gross. I am lucky I can pause video and stream Ken Kal over the inter webs instead.

Posted by RWBill from the Land of 12 in 12. on 04/07/12 at 12:07 PM ET

I’m listening to Ken and Paul. No way am I watching/listening to Icky Oilslick cheering for the Squawks.

Only thing is, radio is always way behind TV, so can’t LB or tweet.

LET’S GO RED WINGS !!!!!

Posted by
MsRedWinger
from GlennieAbbyLand, now in Flori-Duh on 04/07/12 at 01:13 PM ET

Gonna watch this one with the family, so will miss the LB. But I cannot hope for a loss. I’d prefer a travel light schedule with NSH, and SJ still worries me. But man, I’m with KHAN!!! It’s the Wings I’m really concerned about. These guys get their shit together and play like they can, and the playoffs will take care of themselves.

We need Mule skating not coasting, the 3rd/4th lines not over backchecking, Hudler frickin shooting, Quincy to pull his head out of his ass, and the whole team has to be willing to work the corners and the middle of the ice. Sounds like a long list of problems, but save that last bit they’re all relatively simple ones. And that last one is the most important of all.

About Abel to Yzerman

Welcome to Abel to Yzerman, a Red Wing blog since 1977. No other site on the internet has better-researched, fact-laden and better prepared discussions than A2Y. Re-phrase: we do little research, find facts and stats highly overrated and claim little to no preparation. There are 19 readers of A2Y. No more, no less. All of them, except maybe one, are juvenile in nature. Reminding them of that in the comment section will only encourage them to prove that. Your suggestions and critiques are welcome: wphoulihan@gmail.com